Awards and decorations of the United States Department of the Army

Awards and decorations of the United States Army are those military awards including decorations which are issued to members of the United States Army under the authority of the Secretary of the Army. Together with military badges such awards provide an outward display of a service member's accomplishments.

The first recognized medals of the U.S. Army appeared during the American Civil War and were generally issued by local commanders on an unofficial basis. The Medal of Honor was the first award to be established in regulations as a permanent Army decoration, complete with benefits. The Medal of Honor is the only Civil War era award which has survived as a decoration into the modern age.

Furthermore, the U.S. Army mandates that all unit awards will be worn separate from individual awards on the opposite side of a military uniform. The Army is the only service to require this separation between unit and individual decorations. All Army unit awards are worn enclosed in a gold frame.

History

The Spanish–American War was the first widespread award of campaign medals, both for service in the actual conflict and for participation in subsequent garrison and occupation duty. After the Spanish–American War, however, medals in the U.S. Army fell into disuse and, apart from a few peacetime Medal of Honor decorations, two medals for service in Mexico, or on the border, during the period 1911–17, plus the Civil War Campaign Medal and the Indian Campaign Medal, both finally authorized in 1907, there were no further Army decorations created until the First World War.

World War I saw the first widespread distribution of medals for combat, as the Medal of Honor returned awarded for bravery in battle against an enemy force. The Distinguished Service Cross was also created for those soldiers who had performed feats of bravery but not to the level required of the Medal of Honor. The only other medals of World War I were the World War I Victory Medal, accompanied by a confusing array of battle clasps to denote combat participation, and the very belated Army of Occupation of Germany Medal.

In the 1920s and 1930s, the U.S. Army issued very few decorations and it was often common for a service member to spend an entire career without receiving a single medal. As World War II loomed, however, an American Defense Service Medal was created for those on duty, and a Good Conduct Medal began to be issued to enlisted personnel. With the outbreak of the war, the Army began the largest expansion of medals since the Spanish–American War as well as the first wide scale issuance of inter-service awards and decorations. In addition, several World War II campaign medals were created for various theaters and a World War II Victory Medal was established at the end of the conflict as well as an occupation medal.

In the 1950s and 1960s, the Army expanded both its number of medals and ribbons, as well as having its service members eligible for several new inter-service campaign and service medals (such as the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal and the National Defense Service Medal).

In the modern age, members of other military branches serving under an Army command are also eligible to receive Army decorations. All Army service members may receive inter-service awards and decorations, international decorations, and authorized foreign medals. The Department of the Army also awards a limited number of civilian awards.

The current active decorations of the United States Army as follows (the Medal of Honor, the highest military award, is not shown as it covers all of the military services):

United States Army decorations

Distinguished Service Cross	Distinguished Service Medal	Soldier's Medal	Army Commendation Medal	Army Achievement Medal

Good Conduct Medals

Army Good Conduct Medal	Army Reserve Components Achievement Medal

Unit Awards

Presidential Unit Citation	Valorous Unit Award	Meritorious Unit Commendation	Army Superior Unit Award

The Joint Meritorious Unit Award is also a unit award for the US Army

Service Ribbons

Army Sea Duty Ribbon	NCO Professional Development Ribbon	Army Service Ribbon	Army Overseas Service Ribbon	Army Reserve Components Overseas Training Ribbon	Army Recruiting Ribbon

Marksmanship Competition Awards

International Distinguished Shooter Badge	Army Distinguished Shooter Badges	President's Hundred Tab	Army Interservice Competition Badges

Army Excellence-In-Competition Badges

Other awards

In order of precedence


Department of the Army Civilian Service Decorations
Department of the Army Distinguished Civilian Service Award	Secretary of the Army Award for Valor	Superior Civilian Service Award	Meritorious Civilian Service Award	Department of the Army Civilian Service Commendation Medal	Department of the Army Civilian Service Achievement Medal


Department of the Army Civilian Service Medals
Civilian Award for Humanitarian Service	Secretary of Defense Medal for the Global War on Terrorism	Armed Forces Civilian Service Medal


Department of the Army Public Service Decorations
Distinguished Public Service Medal	Superior Public Service Medal	Meritorious Public Service Medal	Public Service Commendation Medal

Department of the Army Civilian Service Awards

Secretary of the Army's Award for Outstanding Achievement in Materiel Acquisition

Department of the Army Public Service Awards

Patriotic Public Service Lapel Button
Certificate of Appreciation for Patriotic Civilian Service

Awards of unique achievement

Brigadier General Jeremiah P. Holland Award – awarded to the most outstanding military police unit, company size or smaller, each fiscal year.
Secretary of the Army Awards for Program/Project Management
Zachary and Elizabeth Fisher Distinguished Civilian Humanitarian Award

Regimental association awards

The Order of Molly Pitcher – Air Defense Artillery
MG Horatio Gates Award – Adjutant General
The Order of Saint George, The Order of St. Joan D'Arc – Armor & Cavalry
The Order of Saint Michael – Aviation
The Order of Martin of Tours – Chaplain Corps
The Order of the Dragon – Chemical Corps
The Order of Thor – Cyber Corps
The Order of De Fleury – Engineers
The Order of Saint Barbara – Field Artillery
The Order of Saint Maurice – Infantry
The Order of Military Medical Merit (O2M3)- Medical
Knowlton Award, The Order of the Spinx – Military Intelligence
The Order of the Marechaussee – Military Police
The Order of Samuel Sharpe – Ordnance Corps
MG Robert A. McClure Award – Psychological Operations
The Order of Saint Gabriel – Public Affairs
The Order of Saint Martin – Quartermaster Corps
The Order of Mercury – Signal Corps
The Order of Saint Philip Neri – Special Forces
The Order of Saint Christopher – Transportation Corps
The Order of Saint Dominic – Army Space Cadre